A few of the many points of comparison between the Chinese and U.K. educational systems
At an International School’s conference in Guangzhou, China, a presentation was given detailing that the purpose of the educational system in China currently serves the government’s economic and philosophical agenda to modernize (Loy, 2019). The study claimed that the Chinese educational system is targeted at and currently succeeding in developing citizens who are both productive in the new economy and loyal to the political party. It should be noted that many, if not all, countries impose political loyalty onto their school curriculum’s, but China gets noted for it because they specifically broadcast it. Historically, China’s educational system began as a way for bureaucrats to gain office and was valued in philosophical systems (Open Learn, 2019). Western readers can hold “philosophical systems” in similar status to “churches”, to better understand the importance of the beliefs.
In the U.K. the education system currently serves the government’s economic and moral agenda to prepare students for successful careers while participating in the U.K.’s economy (Loy, 2019). The educational system has origins in training aristocrats in religion, and even though education gradually became more focused on training children to work in different fields in the 19th century it should be noted that the Church of England continued to support many of the efforts (Havely, 1952). Generally, the U.K. education system had its largest boots in numbers when the government allocated tax dollars to funding institutions targeted at lower economic classes. The Education Act of 1944 represented a major move towards government control, away from church control (Lawson, Harold, and Silver, 1973).
Limits of Standardized Testing
A similarity in the two systems is standardized testing. The gaokao system in China is a gateway for entering Universities (Open Learn, 2019), and the A-Levels serve a similar purpose in the U.K. The tests have many similarities, which are constrained but not necessarily caused by limitations in testing and assessment resources. Questions and correct answers are chosen at a national level, and this inevitably imbues the test with cultural and socio-economic biases. Grading is assisted by computers and automatic evaluative methods, which exclude additional input from students. This would not, for example, be the case in a verbal or experiential assessment.
Specialized Study
Another similarity is that the gaokao system has caused courses of study to be created around passing it with high marks, as a goal unto itself. A-Levels are similar, where students study for 2 years on the topics. Indeed, some of the questions are similar and taking one test can grant you admission into a University running under the other system (Ma, 2019). In Alexandra Ma’s article on Business Insider, we can see student testing schedules that are similar in both countries, the U.K. and China, during June. The school courses that lead up to the tests primarily concern content consumption and replication, as a necessity, focusing less on creative problem solving.
Cultural Perception
A large difference of perception can be seen even though the systems have several mechanical similarities. The cultures into which they are placed result in the tests having different mental models in the minds of students and society. In China, the gaokao system is seen as an elimination system which sorts students into the best university, career, and life that they can obtain (Loy, 2019). In the U.K. the A-levels are perceived as a meter which informs the student which Universities will likely accept them, presenting them with a choice that implies self-agency. This system-control versus self-agency perception of systems may not be caused by the tests but has a strong impact in how the tests are discussed and how the classrooms that support the tests are organized. Interestingly, the perception of the tests often carries from one country to the next. Rather than U.K. citizens evaluating the gaokao by their own cultural standards, they often perceive it by the Chinese standards. In turn, the Chinese perceive the A-Level tests as a system which grants choice rather than eliminates choice. This may be because those people who are able to choose which system they wish to be evaluated under, or teach under, recognized that social perceptions matter as much as test mechanics when it comes to life choices.
Conclusion
Personally, I favor the presence of the two similarities. I do not enjoy that standardized assessment faces the confines of testing technology, or that courses are created specifically to pass the tests. However, given that a better system is not currently implemented, I appreciate that there is a similarity across nations because I believe it fosters cultural exchange and global mindedness.
I do not favor the differences in perception between to two systems, and the fact that those perceptions stem from historical, moral, and philosophical differences. I favor a grim but respectful attitude towards the tests, seeing them as an unfortunate necessity that should be avoided when possible and changed when a more favorable system can be devised and popularized.
There are many additional considerations to be given when evaluating the U.K. educational system against the Chinese educational system. This paper only seeks to highlight a few points in detail, to contribute a demonstration in the values of each society and the impact that those values have had a key points in their respective education systems.
References
Open Learn. (2019, August 30). Chinese education: How do things work? Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society/international-development/international-studies/chinese-education-how-do-things-work
Loy, A. (2019, November 23). Incorporating International Education Systems into Chinese Communities [Study presentation]. IBC International Schools Conferences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
The Open University. (2019, August 30). Brief Introduction to The Chinese Education System, Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/brief-introduction-the-chinese-education-system
Elie Halevy (1952). History of the English People in the 19th Century: Rule of Democracy 1905-1914. Book 1. Vol 6. pp. 64–93.
Lawson, John; Harold, Silver (1973). A Social History of Education in England. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-43251-1.
Ma, Alexandra (2019). Sample Questions from China’s Gaokao. Retrieved June 27, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/sample-questions-from-chinas-gaokao-one-of-worlds-toughest-tests-2018-6